For years, Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, was regarded as one of the most powerful figures in Ukraine. He tightly controlled access to the president, with officials and advisers often alleging that Zelensky was isolated from dissenting views. Meetings held without Yermak’s presence reportedly carried a retaliation risk, and many in Kyiv described him as a man who rarely forgot a slight. 

Then came the fall. Last November, anti-corruption agents raided Yermak’s apartment, and Zelensky dismissed him as head of the presidential office shortly thereafter. Last week, Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ordered Yermak’s pretrial detention on money laundering charges, culminating in what many see as the most consequential corruption case in the country’s recent history.